Director Chris Fowles Tells a Poignant and Charming Story of Self Belief for Erste Bank

Director Chris Fowles' latest awe-inspiring commercial puts Rocky’s training montage scenes to shame with the charming and wonderful ‘The Challenger’ commercial for Erste Bank. As per usual Chris brings a sense of grounded relatability to the film, capturing believable performances from the two leads. It’s a story of hope and determination, with Ava the lead actress putting on a fantastic debut performance.

Chris had this to say about working on the project: "The main point for us was, it doesn’t really matter for our hero whether she wins or loses. We imply, but we don’t need to know. It's just the start of a journey and more about the importance of self-belief. 

"Client and agency were amazing, really open to new ideas and pushing it as far as it could go. We referenced a lot of indie films like Little Miss Sunshine for tone, which I think comes across nicely.

"The level of humour was quite new for me and great fun - shooting something a bit more energetic where we could move the camera a lot and be punchier with the storytelling. But it's really grounded by our two lead performances, who were incredible. They gave it that empathy and reality that you need for the ending to cut through. Ava our lead girl, it's actually her first time acting on camera and she barely ever needed a second take. Such a natural. The Croatian team were also brilliant, my first time shooting in the country but definitely not my last."